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I got a great deal on a 5-ply All Clad pan on ebay as a factory second. It's been my first really nice pan besides some decent cast iron I tuned up. I swear that thing's magic! Evens out a lot of the horribleness of my electric stove. I'm sure there's pans out there that offer better value (All Clad is expensive), but I really do love mine.

I got a great deal on a 5-ply All Clad pan on ebay as a factory second. It's been my first really nice pan besides some decent cast iron I tuned up. I swear that thing's magic! Evens out a lot of the horribleness of my electric stove. I'm sure there's pans out there that offer better value (All Clad is expensive), but I really do love mine.

I have a tricky question that falls in line with all these types of cookware. But it's kinda scattered points so bear with me..I found the cast iron seasoning blog that mentioned the flax seed oil trick, and while it works for light, drier sauté, it doesn't hold up to much deglazing. Liquids just quickly cause the coating to flake off. I spent literally 4.5 hours with a palm sander and 4 different levels of sandpaper to try to smooth out my Lodge cast iron pan, since I already had one and didn't want to get into a $300 bidding war on ebay for the nice smooth bottomed Griswold. Actually, it was this newfound interest in smooth, iron pans that led me to this thread.

I realized my cheapo apartment coil wire cooktop elements don't come close to even heating, and it appears to exaggerate the flaking of the finish on the pans. I'll likely pull the trigger in a few minutes on a de buyer pan, since it's exactly what I'm looking for, and will weigh a fraction of what my massive cast iron pan does.

I don't want to pull my hair out going thru various heat dispersion plates or wire contraptions unless someone knows firsthand of one particular type that actually works well. Years ago at a different place, I used a heat dispersion plate for melting chocolate ( I think, it didn't get much use) but I'm not trying to simmer, I just want more even heating so the coatings don't get thrashed. I use my infrared thermometer to check and sure enough, I can have variations of up to 100º F inches apart. So far, the best way to minimize this is to not use a heat past medium, and to just sit and wait for 5 minutes or more for the heat to try to even out a bit, but it's still a problem. Do those cheap little wire gizmos actually work well?

It's a PITA enough that I have to constantly tweak and shuffle the elements just to try to get a pan to sit level on the stove, I don't want to exasperate my struggles any further by fighting hot spots that quickly destroy the seasoning I've worked so hard and patient to build. More importantly, the drastic effects it has on the food being cooked.

I tried using the copper plate on a thin walled saute pan, which was a mistake. I'll need to go with a thicker metal base in order to maintain contact with the whole heating surface. I happened to pick up some older copper clad cookware today on Craigslist to give it a try and even though I like the build quality, the thinness of the whole pan leads to some buckling over heat and it's like a wok, wobbling on top of the copper plate. I took the copper plate away and just used it on the electric burner. These would work awesomely on a gas range, but fail on a cheap electric coil. I haven't tried the plate on a heavy cast iron skillet yet, but I imagine it might help.